According to discount hotel specialist LateRooms.com, Glasgow hotels received a higher number of bookings than those in Barcelona and Rome in recent months. The city also beats the likes of Paris and Geneva in the price stakes, offering cheaper average room rates.
“Shopping is one of the nation’s favourite past-times, and we wanted to analyse where the UK are spending their money on hotels,” said Lynda Matthews, offline marketing manager at LateRooms.com.
“LateRooms.com customers are incredibly savvy at snapping up a bargain, and we are pleased to see our home-grown shopping destinations of London and Glasgow doing so well against their European counterparts, in the hotel market as well as the shopping stakes.”
Hotels in Edinburgh have seen a smaller increase in bookings of 130 per cent. In terms of room rates, London remains the most expensive city destination.
Room rates fall
The findings follow today’s news that hotel room rates across the UK have fallen by an average of 1 per cent as hoteliers strive to fill rooms by discounting and refuse to pass on the VAT increase to guests. The survey, by Hotels.com, ranked Glasgow fifth in the top 10 UK destinations for travellers.
BigHospitality also recently reported the findings of trivago’s Hotel Price Index, which revealed that hotels in Glasgow have actually seen a decrease in average room rates by four per cent to £70.
Recent developments in Glasgow’s hotel sector include the purchase of the Hilton Glasgow hotel by investment company Topland, and the introduction of France-based operator Louvre Hotels’ Tulip brand into Glasgow’s East End. Meanwhile, offers are still being invited on a 200-bedroom hotel development in the Collegelands district of the city.